Container bracket arrangement for flat deck railway car



I Jan. 27, 1970 K. J. A-USTGEN CONTAINER BRACKET ARRANGEMENT FOR FLAT DECK RA ILWAY CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 8, 1968 m .Y m w u/ A A ifl m Jan. 27; 1970 K. J. AUSTGEN CONTAINER BRACKET ARRANGEMENT FOR FLAT DECK RAILWAY CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 8, 1968 KENNETH J INVENTOR fires/v A? TY.

United States Patent O US. Cl. 105366 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container bracket arrangement for a flat deck railway car which is rotatable within an opening provided in the deck where in one position the bracket provides a flush surface with the deck and in a second position a container bracket securing means projects upwardly from the bracket for engagement with the corner bracket of a container. The bracket arrangement comprising latch elements adapted to engage keeper elements disposed on opposite sides of the bracket arrangement on portions of the flat deck, said latch elements being actuated by force transmitting means so that the bracket arrangement may be pivoted to either of the aforementioned positions and securely retained therein by engagement of the latch elements with said keeper means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The field of invention pertains to railway cars of the flat deck type particularly adapted for supporting containers or wheeled trailers. More specifically, the invention is concerned with container brackets which are readily movable into position to accommodate either of the aforementioned types of operation.

Description of the prior art In order to properly support containers on a flat car it is necessary to provide securing elements which project upwardly from the deck of the car and engage the four corner brackets provided on a standard container. Generally such projecting supports include cone-shaped elements which engage openings provided in the four corner brackets of the container. During trailer operation these projecting elements must be removed so that they do not provide obstructions on the deck of the car when the trailer is driven into position. The prior art includes container brackets which are folded to lie flat on the deck and also includes container brackets which are pivoted from the deck sideways of the flat car downwardly into position underneath the deck. Patents showing these con- 1 structions are 3,296,981 patented Jan. 10, 1967 and 3,257,970, patented June 28, 1966.

SUMMARY The present invention relates to a container bracket arrangement which can be placed in an on-deck position to support a container or which can be recessed within the deck of a flat car to provide a relatively flush surface for trailer-on-flat-car operation, the said bracket arrangement including an improved latching mechanism permitting the said container bracket to be quickly placed in either of the aforementioned positions and securely retained therein.

Patented Jan. 27, 1970 FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the deck of a railway flat car disclosing a plan view of a container bracket arrangement in position for engaging and supporting the corner of a container;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view through a portion of a railway car disclosing in elevation a container bracket arrangement, the said view being taken particularly along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing another position of a latching mechanism; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view showing details of a latching mechanism taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now particularly to FIG. 1, a railway car is generally designated by the reference character 10. The railway car comprises a flat deck 11 containing a plurality of openings or wells 12, only one of which is shown. A container bracket arrangement 13 is disposed in the well 12 shown. In the conventional flat car the flat deck 11 generally supports two 40-ft. containers in lengthwise spaced arrangement. The containers are provided with comer brackets at each of the four corners and thus a total of eight bracket arrangements would be provided. It is of course contemplated that more or less of these bracket arrangements may be utilized depending upon the number of containers which the flat car is intended to support. The type of container bracket arrangement herein disclosed is also described in the co-pending application of Wille et al., Ser. No. 628,855, filed Apr. 6, 1967, now Patent No. 3,437,055.

Each bracket arrangement 13 comprises a bracket housing 14 which includes a pair of laterally spaced upright wall members 15 having longitudinally extending inwardly bent flanges 16. The bracket housing 14 includes a pair of superimposed rubber shear blocks 18, only one of which is shown, the construction being described in more detail in the aforementioned patent application. The shear blocks 18 suitably support thereon the rotatable indexing head 19 which is adapted to be locked in position within a recess 20 provided in the corner structure of a container which is generally designated by the reference character 21 in FIG. 2. The indexing head 19 may be suit ably rotated into lock and unlock positions by means of a latching device 22.

The upright wall members 15 are connected at their bottom as best shown in FIG. 5 by means of a wall 23. As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, stop plates 24 are disposed at opposite ends of the wall 15 which limit the movement of the rubber shear blocks 18 which cushion movement of the container 21 during impacts on the end of the car as described in the aforementioned application. A pair of longitudinally spaced end abutment elements 25 and 26 are connected underneath the deck '11 at opposite ends of the well 12 and project therein. As best shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, side keeper elements 27 are positioned on opposite sides of the well 12, the same being rigidly secured to the underneath surface of the deck 11. As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a latch mechanism is generally designated by the reference character 28. The

latch mechanism 28 comprises a bottom support bracket 29 which as best shown in FIG. extends horizontally and is rigidly secured to the upright wall members 15. The support bracket 29 includes offset plate portions 60 and 31 each having a pair of upright wall elements 32 and have connected thereto top walls 33 to provide a generally box like structure in which latch elements 34 are slidably disposed. Each latch element 34 has at its outer portion a tongue 35 slidable through recesses 38 provided in the upright walls 15. A pivot plate 36 of generally triangular configuration is rotatably mounted on the bottom support bracket 29 by means of a vertical pivot pin 37. A pivot pin 39 is secured to the pivot plate 36 and extends into an elongated slot 40 provided in one of the latch elements 34. A vertical pin 41 is connected to another portion of the pivot plate 36 and extends into an elongated slot 42 provided in the other latch element 34. The plate 36 also includes a vertically projecting pin 43 which is pivotally connected to a link 44 pivotally connected as indicated at 44 to an actuating plate 45. A housing 46 is suitably supported on the connecting Wall 23 and includes upright walls 47, a bottom wall 48 and a top wall 49 to provide a box-like structure in which the actuating plate 45 is slidably disposed. The actuating plate 45, as best shown in FIG. 3, projects outwardly into a recess 50 provided in the keeper member 26. The keeper member 25, as best shown in FIG. 1 is also provided with a similar recess 51.

A coil spring 52 is disposed in a box-like housing 53 rigidly connected to one of the upright members by means of vertical walls 54, a bottom wall 55 and a top Wall 56. The spring 52, as best shown in FIG. 3, urges the triangular plate 36 into the position shown wherein the tongues 35 of the latch elements 34 are in locked engagement with the keeper elements 27.

THE OPERATION As indicated previously one or more containers may be supported in longitudinally spaced relation on the deck 11. At the corners of each of the containers identical container bracket arrangements 13 are provided which are disposed in the wells 12. In order to support the container bracket arrangements in the position wherein the conical indexing heads 19 engage the recesses of the container, the said bracket arrangements 13 are pivoted into the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this position the side keeper elements 27 are engaged by latch elements 34 which are continually urged in this position by means of the spring 52. The indexing heads 19 have been moved by means of the latching mechanism 22 to a position wherein the container 21 is firmly secured against vertical displacement and lateral shifting movement. The improved latch mechanism 28, and the engagement of the rigid stop 57, with the end abutment element 25, provide for eifective means to maintain the bracket arrangements 13 in each of their positions.

It the railway car 10 is to be used for trailer-on-fiatcar operation the container bracket arrangements 13 are rotated to a position wherein the connecting wall 23 is flush with the deck 11 so that no obstruction is presented by the bracket arrangements 13 when the trailers are driven onto the deck of the flat car by means of tractor units. In order to release the bracket housing 14 from its latched position, whereupon it may be rotated, it is a simple matter to insert a pry bar 58 into the opening 50 as best shown in FIG. 2, whereupon the actuating plate 45 moves the pivot plate 36 in a counterclockwise position against the spring 52. Thus the latch elements 34 are withdrawn into the recesses 38 out of engagement with the keeper elements 27 on the right hand side as shown in FIG. 1 so that the bracket housing 14 may be pivoted as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 2 into the traileron-flat-car operating position. During this rotation the actuating plate 45 engages a tapered portion of the end abutment element which causes the same to retract the latch elements 34 whereupon the latch elements 34 now can engage the keeper elements 27 disposed on the left hand portion of the well 12 as best shown in FIG. 1. The solid stop 57 now engages the end abutment element 26 and the bracket arrangement is disposed for trailer-on-fiat-car operation. The flush deck surface presented by each of the walls 23 provides an unobstructed treadway for the tractors to traverse the deck of the car and their positioning of the trailers which may then be supported thereon by suitable trailer hitches not disclosed in the present construction.

Thus it is obvious that an improved bracket arrangement has been disclosed to permit both container operation and trailer-on-flat-car operation. It must be understood that changes and modifications may be made which do not depart from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is: 1. A container bracket arrangement for a railway car having a flat deck adapted to support a container with said deck including an opening providing a bracket-rcceiving well comprising:

a bracket housing including a pair of laterally spaced upright members connected by a fiat horizontal wall,

container bracket securing means on said housing,

means pivotally mounting said bracket housing in said well whereby in one position said horizontal wall is substantially flush with said deck to provide a continuation thereof, and said container bracket securing means is recessed in said well, and said housing being rotatable to a second position wherein said wall is disposed in said well and said container bracket securing means is disposed above said deck to support the corner of a container carried on said car,

latch means for releasably locking said bracket housing in either of said positions, comprising:

keeper means on said deck adjacent to said well,

a latch element movably supported on said bracket housing for transverse movement from a recessed position relative to one of said upright members to a projecting position engaging said keeper means,

a pivot plate pivotally supported on said bracket housing and pivotally connected to said latch element, an actuating element movably supported on said bracket housing for movement longitudinally with respect to said well,

a link pivotally connected to said actuating element and to said pivot plate,

said actuating element being movably engageable by force transmitting means to move said pivot plate for moving said latch element from said position engaging said keeper means, and

spring means on said bracket housing for urging said latch element to said keeper engaging position.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, and

said keeper means including a plurality of keeper elements disposed underneath said deck on opposite sides of said well,

a second latch element movably supported on said bracket housing for engagement with one of said keeper means, and

means pivotally connecting said second latch element to said pivot plate to be actuated thereby in concert with said first latch element.

3. The invention in accordance With claim 2, and

said latch means including a support member connected to and extending transversely with respect to said upright members and supporting said latch elements.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 3, and

said upright members including recesses through which said latch elements are movable.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 4, and

said latch elements each having a slot with said slots extending longitudinally relative to said well and parallel with respect to each other, and

said pivotal connections of said latch elements and pivot plate including a pair of pins on said plate movable in said slots.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 5, and

said actuating element being slidingly movable in the direction of said slots and including an extension projecting outwardly from said Well into a recess provided in said deck, and

said spring means being supported on one of said upright members and engaging one of said latch elements.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1968 Matushek et a1 105366 4/1969 Wille et a1. 105366 

